OpenAI has been busy the past few days, having just announced the release of SearchGPT. Now you can join the waiting list of Google competitors for ChatGPT. Following its release, the company is giving AI fans another treat by revealing that its long-awaited voice mode will launch next week.

In an X post to OpenAI users seeking more information, CEO Sam Altman said, “Alpha rollout to Plus subscribers starts next week!” He stated. This means that if you want to try out the voice feature, which the company first demonstrated a few months ago, you will have to pay for ChatGPT Plus.

Even Plus subscribers may not be able to access it; according to the official OpenAI X account, the company will “start the alpha with a small group of users, gather feedback, and expand based on what we learn. If you want to try it out, you'll need to be one of the selected users, but the company does not provide details on how to sign up for access, so they may just randomly pick people from the Plus subscriber pool.

Thankfully, OpenAI has stated that it “plans to make access available to all Plus users in the fall.”

Interestingly, Altman revealed a narrower release window in a simple X post rather than a more formal press release or live stream. That could mean a slower rollout.

The company had originally planned to launch the new feature in June, but delayed it “one more month to reach the launch hurdle.” If Altman's X post is true, the company appears to be close enough to reaching that hurdle to get access to some high paying users.